(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to imaging apparatuses, and in particular, to an imaging apparatus which employs a high-speed imaging device and a high-definition imaging device to obtain images at once out of one input image.
(2) Description of the Related Art
There are imaging apparatuses performing the following: employing a lens to form an image of an object on an imaging device; providing various kinds of signal processing to the image data obtained via photoelectric conversion; and displaying the image of the object on a liquid crystal monitor as well as recording the image in a recording medium. Such imaging apparatuses have been practically realized as digital still cameras and digital video cameras and have become widely available. A typical operation of such a camera involves a user of the camera deciding composition of the object to obtain the image for no more than one capturing objective such as: controlling the direction of the camera and the zooming; and capturing a scene in which a child of the user is playing. Furthermore, an operation of a stationary imaging apparatus, such as a surveillance camera, involves deciding composition of the object for no more than one capturing objective such as: controlling the direction of the camera and the zooming by remote control; and specifying a suspicious figure and a troubled site by image processing to automatically control the camera angle.
As an application technique of the above technique, proposed is a first imaging apparatus which is capable of achieving several capturing objectives with one camera (Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-134845). Out of an image being obtained by the camera, the application technique (i) selects several watch areas including an object to be a watch target according to a prospectively set condition, and, furthermore, (ii) sets a degree of importance in the image for each of the corresponding watch areas. Then, the technique (i) integrates the several watch areas into an integrated watch area based on the degree of importance, and (ii) controls the camera so as to include the integrated watch area in the composition based on a measurement value of a sensor detecting a status of the camera.
As another application technique, proposed is a second imaging apparatus utilizing a surveillance technique which can always check the entire surveillance area, and at the same time, allows the user to make a detailed visual contact with a watch area (Patent Reference 2: 2006-129152). The technique (i) temporarily stores an image obtained by a camera in a first buffer, (ii) carries out a separate size conversion on the surveillance area and the watch area which are included in the first buffer, (iii) and re-stores the converted surveillance area and watch area in a second buffer. Accordingly, the surveillance area and the watch area which are re-stored in the second buffer are regarded as images to be recorded.